Rocky View teachers authorize strike vote

Teachers employed by the Rocky View School Division have voted 99.6 per cent in favour of authorizing the Alberta Teachers’ Association to request a government-supervised strike vote.

This action followed the rejection of a proposal by a third-party mediator to settle local negotiations in Rocky View. Teachers who gathered at the meeting held Nov. 26 voted 98 per cent in opposition to the mediator’s recommendations.

“Teachers at Sunday’s meeting voted to send a clear message: this settlement package is completely unacceptable and Rocky View trustees must return to the table with an intent to bargain and to improve the settlement offer,” said Amrit Rai Nannan, president of Rocky View Local No. 35.

School board negotiators have previously told the ATA that the trustees were done negotiating and that they would not be returning to the table if the mediator’s terms were turned down. Teachers at the meeting were upset by the board’s take-it-or-leave-it ultimatum.

Rai Nannan said teachers are feeling disrespected and devalued by their employer. Outstanding issues include working conditions for online teachers, compensation for school administrators and recognition for long service.

If bargaining does not resume, the mediator will “write out” of the dispute, kicking off a two-week cooling off period. After the cooling off period, the ATA would be able to hold a strike vote with teachers in Rocky View School Division.

“Teachers are being left with no options,” Nannan said. “We are feeling extremely disrespected, and we are not prepared to take an inferior offer just because the board refuses to listen to teacher concerns. The board is telling us to settle for an inadequate agreement or go on strike, but we refuse to be coerced.”

The Rocky View School Division employs approximately 1,700 contracted and substitute teachers in public schools in Airdrie, Chestermere, Cochrane, Crossfield, Springbank and surrounding areas.